Rapid Response
by Kerjen
Summary: Saavik has gone into a difficult labor and Spock can't get to her on time. Until Sarek finds the USS Aurora to bring his son home. Note: My friend Martha is terminally ill and I wanted one more story for her. The kids are her favorites because of how they reflect all sides of a Vulcan. So I gave her this pivotal role - and had her in uniform made by Ro-Tine. Rated T for 2 curses


"Holy _shit_!" Captain Martha Watkey whispered under her breath. About a second later, she wondered if that was the best thing to say to a premier ambassador from Vulcan. And if he heard her despite the whisper on a comm channel.

On the other hand, Sarek had been around humans for like a century or more. Martha pulled her years of experience and training around her and tugged on her red uniform jacket. At least, she was alone in her cabin and wouldn't be adding to ship's gossip. "Sorry, Ambassador. How can I help you?"

He surprised her more. "Captain, you are to reroute your ship to Lompagn III where you will take aboard Ambassador Spock. From there, you will make your course for Vulcan. You must make your best speed and bring Spock as quickly as possible. He is needed for a critical health situation."

Her wide dark eyes widened more and her stomach clenched at what that could mean. On the other hand, he was Sarek. "If you think it's necessary, sir, then I know it is."

He nodded once.

"I'll contact Starfleet Command and get new orders, but I'll tell the bridge to get moving now."

"You need not contact Command, Captain. I have done so and you will find your new orders no doubt waiting for you."

Sarek really pushed if he already had Starfleet giving him a starship at his beck and call. Martha shot orders to the bridge before she said, "Sir, can I ask what's going on?"

Surprisingly since he was in a hurry, he paused. "I am committing an action I swore never to do, Captain. I broke that vow once before and I find myself willingly doing so again. The issue is this: you may have heard of my son and daughter-in-law."

She stopped the snort in time. Her black hair fell in waves to her white tunic collar, separating her warm, dark ivory skin tone. "Of course."

"My daughter will soon give birth to their twin daughters. However, Spock is away and will not return home in time with his current transport. This is alone is insufficient to disrupt your schedule, Captain."

Martha was about to argue that it was. Her ship, the _Aurora_, had finished its current mission as well and had leeway before its next, and she had three children herself. Sarek turning old before her eyes stopped her.

"However, Saavik is in great difficulty before the birth can be attempted. It stems from the twins' own difficulties. If Spock could return to Vulcan in time, he can be of assistance."

Martha tried pulling something from memory. "Vulcans have a mental bond, right?"

"Particularly between married couples. It is this that can aid Saavik and my granddaughters."

"Ambassador." Martha sat forward in her desk chair. "This isn't breaking a vow. It's maybe saving lives and at least helping people who have done everything for the Federation. That includes you. But if it helps, I'm not going to violate any oath if I think you're wrong."

"I require aid, Captain, personal assistance, but never blind obedience."

"Good. Believe me, any bastard—sorry for cursing, sir."

Sarek held up a staying hand and Martha's stomach unclenched. "Your apology is unnecessary, Captain. I hear such language regularly."

She smiled. "Of course. Humans."

"On the contrary, my daughter." He sobered, staring out through the computer. "You have your orders, Captain. May I see you at Vulcan swiftly."

"We'll get him home, Ambassador," Martha promised.

Sarek nodded and signed off.

She blew out a long breath and then hit the comm panel on the desk. "Tom," she called her husband. "Feel like playing around with the engines?"

A short time later, Spock held himself still on the transporter plate. The young woman at the transporter station checked everything as they waited.

Spock asked, "Has there been word from _Aurora_?"

"Yes, sir," the lieutenant answered. "They're on schedule and said they'd be early. I don't know how." Something beeped on her station. Her eyebrows shot up. "Now, we do. They're not making orbit, sir! They're… picking you up as they go by!"

Spock had no answer for that.

"Ambassador, you need to get into place, sir!"

He could point out he was already in place, but the transporter grabbed him and his few belongings. In a second, he stepped down from the starship's platform. A man with close-cut, light brown hair and a graying goatee worked the station.

"My compliments, sir," Spock addressed him. Snatching someone on the run wasn't as easy as it sounded. "You both transported safely and saved time with the lack of making and breaking orbit."

"We're going to see about shaving off more time, sir."

"Welcome to the _Aurora_, Ambassador," the captain greeted him. She stood next to the transport station. "I'm Captain Martha Watkey and this is my husband, Commander Tom Watkey. If we can gain speed, Tom will figure it out. _If_," she said to her husband lightly, "we don't use all our time to evaluate and analyze every Federation option."

_Curious_, but Tom Watkey laughed. Martha waved a hand indicating the door.

"Let's get you settled, sir, and hopefully you won't have to bother unpacking. We're in contact with the hospital at the Vulcan Science Academy. Of course, that includes Ambassador Sarek. This way."

She took him to his temporary quarters and left after hearing the updates and reporting to Vulcan. He did not bother unpacking and calculated again how long before he reached Saavik.

_Their bond flowed differently from her usual touch and clinging to her were two so vulnerable heartbeats._

Spock left his cabin.

Fortunately, Tom Watkey welcomed him to their efforts to increase the _Aurora_'s best speed even as other departments worked at finding a shorter route to Vulcan.

"You can wish he was here," Tom Watkey said, running yet another algorithm tweak through the main computer into an engine simulator.

Spock raised an eyebrow. He had removed his out white and gray robe and worked in his tunic's long black sleeves. "Whom may I wish for, Commander?"

He had already noted the man's incredible intelligence. With more time, he would have liked to work on a larger project with him.

"Montgomery Scott." Watkey kept his eyes on the simulation. "I would if I were you and I was worried about my family."

"Vulcans do not wish, Mr. Watkey, nor do they worry."

"But fathers and husbands do." Tom looked over his shoulder to the engineering crew. "Get this patch installed!"

One young human male frowned at his screen. "We could do some damage with this, Commander."

"Nothing that's not easy to fix when we get there."

"But it only saves five minutes!"

"That's a lot in baby time. Go." Watkey went back to his screen, seeing where else he could shave minutes off their time.

Spock moved next to him. "I cannot ask you to endanger the ship, Commander."

"You're not. But you could be a big help and find us more time."

They worked side by side until both lifted their heads and then placed a hand on a ship wall before double-checking details on the consoles. A few moments later, Spock _ran_ for the bridge. The ship signaled yellow alert and a drop in speed.

The turbolift opened on the bridge and he stated the obvious and didn't care he did. "Captain, loss of speed means loss of time for me to reach Vulcan."

"I'm not playing! What the fuck is wrong with you?!" Martha Watkey shouted and then turned her chair. "Not you, Ambassador," and she returned to the main screen. "I don't have time to thump chests and measure bra sizes!"

An exotic woman – almost Caitian – on the screen snapped back. "Women don't thump their chests! They-"

"They fly their very large and powerful battlecruisers through a pirate ship like its just another piece of the vacuum! I got a priority, Serilda. Get out of my way! Helm, return to full speed!"

Spock stepped in line with the captain so she may see him and wondered what he could do.

Martha caught him in her peripheral vision. "You see him?" she shouted at the pirate captain. "I told you we were on course for a woman who's in labor and having a bad time of it. _He's_ the father! Now you remember what you told me about your kids!"

Spock felt those gold eyes behind the heavy black lashes fasten on him with the strength of a docking clamp.

"_You_ caused this pregnancy."

She didn't ask him, but he answered, "I did."

Pointing out Saavik equally wanted the pregnancy clearly was not an option.

The woman on screen actually ground her teeth. "No woman should be denied the right to hold accountable the one who caused the agony of childbirth."

Again, he held back Saavik's _willingness_. Spock calculated the odds that she would spit in his direction, and when she didn't, he decided it was because she couldn't reach him.

Instead, Serilda talked to Martha. "_The Killers' Jewel_ will clear your path and give you clear skies." She didn't bother signing off; the screen simply returned to the stars.

"_The Killers' Jewel_," Captain Watkey. "Dumbass name for a ship. Don't worry, Ambassador. She's not making us late for a second."

He nodded and returned to Engineering to find a way to regain the lost moments. He passed the dedication plaque with its quote: "We should be nothing but unforgettable." He glanced back at the ship's captain. _Indeed_.

Somehow Tom worked out a way to make up for the lost time. Somehow Martha got navigation and astrometrics to find a way to squeak a _Ranger _class starship through places too small for it. And Sarek…

Sarek cleared every diplomatic complaint until the _Aurora _earned friendly greetings through to Vulcan where it filled Spock's vision and the screen.

Soon replaced with his father. "Captain, we are indebted to you and your crew. My son?"

"They are transporting me directly to the hospital coordinates you provided, Father."

"Do so quickly," and Sarek signed off.

Spock turned to Martha Watkey who shook her head. "No time. Tom's beaming you down – now."

Then, he formed inside the office where his father waited and he ran the short distance to his wife, taking her hand as their bond needed no spoken words.

Epilogue

Martha and Tom checked their uniforms and then their three children's. The eldest brushed back his thick dark hair and had just earn his Starfleet cadet officer rank while his younger brother and sister wore the tan and red jumpsuits. One of Sarek's aides came out to the hospital lounge and asked them to follow her.

Spock met them outside a room and the Watkeys snapped to attention. He nodded once in return and it encouraged Martha's daughter.

Her features were exactly like her mother's. "Ambassador, are the twins okay? No one seems to know anything."

Martha waited to see if the Vulcan allowed the question; he did. "It is true, my son's birth was announced immediately, mostly due to Doctor McCoy's exuberance. However, we waited for today before we released news publicly."

Tom's head shot up. "Wait, are you saying-?"

Spock's answer was to go inside the room and the kids nearly trampled each other to follow. Martha whistled the same notes as a bosun to freeze her children mid-stride. Then she used it to push back them and be first.

Captain Saavik sat up in the bed, dark circles and strain in her face; and yet, Watkey swore she saw that stress fading slowly.

"Your efforts, Captain, are greatly appreciated," Saavik said. "I believe my commanders have taken care of your repairs?"

Tom said something but Martha made gentle steps around the bed. Her sons spoke to a Vulcan toddler who hugged the side of an older human man.

_Doctor McCoy!_

The youngest Watkey got permission to pick up one of the twins and Martha made sure she supported the baby properly. Tom held the other twin with the visible excitement of holding an infant with the obvious experience of a father.

His daughter squealed, "Look at her tiny-!" and then caught herself.

McCoy chuckled. He knew what those words were. "Tiny, baby pointed ears. Best ones in the universe."

The Watkeys drew close together as Spock and Saavik invited them to the twins' naming ceremony, if they could return when it was time. The families talked, like any other families.


End file.
